Business comment

Ronson could be kiss of death for Green ...

No doubt Philip Green would say that my editorial judgment is clouded, but I think the most significant story of the week in the Marks & Spencer takeover battle was not Vittorio Radice's ignominious exit (forecast with astounding perspicacity in this section last week by Sarah Ryle); nor Green's attack on the City in the course of a business conference (what was he doing on another podium in the middle of a takeover bid, by the way?).

The news - broken in our sister paper, the Guardian - that Gerald Ronson was eyeing up M&S's property portfolio must have sent a shiver down Green's spine. And for good reason.

There is, as they say, a bit of 'previous' between these two leaders of the business community - not that you would have read about it in the papers. It has all happened behind closed doors, with one declining to attend a social function attended by the other, and the occasional bit of mutual bad-mouthing. The hatchet has often been temporarily buried, but never for long. Beneath it, there is a real rivalry, born out of each man's burning desire to leave his mark on the business community.

In particular, each sees himself as a property expert. Green has shown how smart he is in this respect with the deals for Sears, BHS and Arcadia, all of which had significant property elements. Ronson, for his part, overcame the shame of the Guinness scandal to re-enrich himself and his backers, becoming one of Britain's leading real-estate players in the process. And in stark contrast to Green, Ronson got on with the job quietly.

... So why not give up now?

M&S could bring the two together in a clash of the titans. If Ronson sets the property ball rolling with M&S, it would dramatically reduce Green's ability to get a quick turn out of the retail group. A quick sale-and-leaseback on Marks's property is Green's preferred way of retiring all that debt he would take on if the City goes for his offer.

Even if Ronson doesn't do a deal, his interest has once again flagged up to M&S that property is its trump card in getting some instant value to shareholders - not that chief executive Stuart Rose or chairman Paul Myners (chairman of Guardian Media Group, which owns The Observer ) need any help in seeing that potential boon.

If you remove the property element from Green's already strained equation, it simply falls apart. He cannot keep the banks happy with a quick turn, nor can he work his accounting magic on the figures.

Pondering next week's plan as he flies down to watch England versus France in Portugal today, Green is said to be considering a retreat from the whole ill-starred venture. Some in the market see this as a threat to the M&S share price. I see it as perhaps the most sensible action he could take at the moment. It's time for the BHS and Arcadia boss to cut his losses and get out of this one. But Ronson could have told him that at the start.

Putting a Strine on credibility

Everybody is entitled to change their mind, but Judge Strine, of the Delaware Chancery Court, is swinging around like a weather-vane in a hurricane.

Earlier this year, the judge virtually called Lord Black a criminal, and forbade him from having anything to do with the auction process of the Telegraph titles being conducted by Lazard. (In the process, incidentally, he also blackened the name of Sir David Barclay, who was accused of feigning illness to avoid appearing in court, a gross defamation.)

Last week, the good judge said that Black could, after all, play a role in the sale, and that the vendor, Hollinger International, should do a deal with him to get the sale away. How can he recommend a transaction with someone he accused of such misdeeds?

There are some strange dynamics here within Hollinger, and between its executives and Richard Breedon, the former SEC chief heading the probe into Black. Breedon has finished his inquiry into Black's alleged misdeeds - what more is there for him to do, other than gossip with his friends at the University of Delaware?

Strine's vacillation is serious because it may further delay the whole sale. For all its apparent plodding, Lazard has run the auction more or less within its self-imposed timetable. If it were now forced to make a sale conditional on the US courts, it could only be to the further detriment of the Telegraph titles.

And while he is in the mood to change his mind on Black, Strine should also retract the slur on Barclay.

Cockpit fall-out at Easyjet

A little trouble in the cockpit at Easyjet, the cut-price airline that used to be owned by Stelios Haji-Ioannou - and may be again, if the problems are not sorted out pretty quick.

Sir Colin Chandler had to run round the City putting out fires last week after the company was forced into its second profits warning within a few weeks. The embarrassed admission put the shares into a tailspin - halved within a month actually - and began speculation that Ray Webster, co-pilot and flight engineer, would soon be bailing out. Or that Stelios would use the opportunity to make a quick bid to take the company private.

Both rumours seem rather far from the truth, but it's not hard to imagine circumstances where they could come true. Another profit warning would surely be the green light for Webster to pull the rip-cord, while Stelios must have a floor in mind where it makes sense to take the shares off the market and start again.

That level has not yet been reached. Webster is an experienced and dedicated operating officer who just seems to have got his forecasts the wrong side of optimism in the most drawn-out and competitive recession the airline industry has ever seen. And Stelios - whose family wealth is largely tied up in the 41 per cent stake he speaks for - has a real incentive to keep that price up, but probably does not want the trouble of a take-out bid.

Easyjet will have to keep flying against the headwind, trimming costs where necessary and adding revenue if possible. And maybe inject a touch of Ryanair-like apocalypse into the next trading statement. Just a hint, mind you - none of those Michael O'Leary F-words, please.

Virgin Radio not for sale

We got it badly wrong last week on Virgin Radio, owned by Scottish Media Group. SMG has asked us to point out that, contrary to our report 'SMG ready to sell Virgin radio', SMG has not been sounding out buyers, and the radio station is not for sale. We are happy to do so, with our apologies to SMG.